


the animal doctor

by allp_wips



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-06-24 23:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19733782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allp_wips/pseuds/allp_wips
Summary: The word spread around the town quickly: Doctor Alex Danvers could bring the dead back to life.





	the animal doctor

The word spread around the town quickly: Doctor Alex Danvers could bring the dead back to life.

He couldn't, not really. But save one sick man life from near-death, and the rumour was bound to go around.

Not that Alex was a doctor. She wasn't even a man, although there was no way anyone was going to find that out. Alex had come quite a long way over to make sure no one found that part out.

The truth was, Jeremiah Danvers had been the best horse doctor in the big city, and his only daughter Alexandra had grown up being his helping hand, so he'd passed down every skill of his trade to her. When he'd died abruptly - Alex had a sneaking suspicion a horse he'd treated losing a race had something to do with it - someone had to provide for the family. And there was Alexandra Danvers, a good an animal doctor as anyone in the city, if only they allowed a woman to practise.

So Alexandra had become Alex, and Alex had moved a small farming town farther up north, where nobody minded much that the animal doctor was a little strange and kept to himself, as long as he did his job right.

Until Alex had started seeing human patients.

She didn't mean to, really. Only, Kara - Alex's only real friend in town - had come in crying about her friend James one day, how he was real sick and the only doctor in town refused to treat him, and the one they'd called in from the big city was still two days away, and she just wasn't sure James was going to last that long.

So Alex had made an exception to her rule to never stand out, and she'd gone to see James. Humans weren't that different from people, not when you got down to the bones and muscles. And it was amazing what a lot of doctors didn't know, or didn't care to know, about basic stuff like washing your hands before sticking them into a person, or sterilizing their instruments. All things that had been drilled into Alex by her father before she could even pronounce "infection".

She'd looked after James, staying with him two nights and one day, until he was finally breathing easier and was actually able to keep down the food they gave him.

And out of that act of kindness, the rumour started: Alex Danvers could just about bring the dead back to life.

\---

The rumour didn't bother Alex, not really. It meant a few more people came to her now for help rather than seeing the town doctor, especially the womanfolk. That wasn't a problem, because her practise had never been all that busy; she'd been eking out barely enough to send money to her mother, while also making her own rent.

She was a bit worried about the trouble she could be in, if the town authorities caught her practising medicine on the side without a license, but the people who came to see her seemed willing to keep silent on the matter, and Alex couldn't deny that the extra money really helped.

So, the rumour didn't bother her much, until The Woman.

\---

The Woman came into her clinic one night near closing time, slipping in unannounced, and so silently that Alex's breath caught, when she turned and come face to face with the elegantly dressed figure.

"So you're the one whose praises my niece has been singing," the woman said, studying her intently.

Alex stared. "Pardon me?"

Her visitor came in closer, seeming not to mind Alex’s dog nipping at the heels of her elegant dress.

"My niece... Kara," she elaborated, not seeming to be able to take her eyes off Alex. "She told me of how you took care of James."

"Oh." Alex did remember now, that Kara had mentioned that her widowed aunt would be coming to visit her soon. Kara had been rambling so much about how much she was looking forward to the visit, that Alex had tuned her out, but it all came back now. "You're Astra."

Astra smiled, a sharp thing. "You don't have to worry, Master Danvers. I've got no illness to plague you with detailed descriptions of; I've always been damnably healthy. I came to discuss quite a different matter."

Alex wet her tongue, and swallowed. The woman was attractive. Very attractive. Actually, she was downright beautiful, and if Alex wasn't careful, she was going to be in trouble.

"What matter?" she asked, stepping back a little from Astra, who didn't seem to know what personal space meant.

"I was at a meeting with Master J'onzz yesterday, to discuss how some of my investments were performing," Astra said. "He happened to mention that you had applied for a loan."

Alex sucked in a sharp breath. Master J'onzz was the director of the local bank, and he had been rather understanding until recently about the - rather poor - state of her finances. However, her last application for a loan - for some new medical instruments that Alex needed - had been a bridge too far even for him.

"He said that he had no choice but to reject your application," Astra continued.

"So what?" The matter of the rejection still rankled, and it made Alex's manner towards Astra ruder than she would otherwise have been. "It's none of your business. What does any of it matter to you?"

"Only this," Astra said simply. "I'm quite a wealthy woman. Master J'onzz might have had qualms about advancing a loan to a simple animal doctor, but not with me pledging security on your behalf."

"You- I- what?" Alex stammered. "I can't accept that!"

"Your pride is unbecoming of your mind's capabilities," Astra said, frowning. "This is a loan, not a gift made out of pity. My assets would only be seized if you business were to underperform and you defaulted on the loan."

"But what if I do default?"

"Then it would have been my fault, for betting on the wrong investment." Astra smiles. "Somehow, I don't think I'm betting wrong, though."

"I don't understand," Alex said, helpless.

"What's there to understand? I'll be your backer," Astra said. "I'll take care of the finances. You just do your job."

"What's the catch?" Alex asked. Nothing in life came easy; her father had taught her that even earlier than her lessons in medicine.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "The catch?"

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?"

Astra seemed to consider her words for some time, before answering. "I want a doctor for this town who knows what he's doing, and who's not going to turn away patients for stupid reasons. Dr.Lane could have easily seen that Olsen boy. He tried to make some excuses about being too busy when I inquired, but we all know what the reason really was."

Alex swallowed.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

This woman, with her elegant dress and clearly refined manners, could have her pick of doctors. Why did she care about some poor animal doctor who had stumbled into saving a man's life?

Astra shrugged. "I was raised to do what I could. The truth is, being a woman, I haven't been allowed to do as much as I wanted to. But, even if I don't have much in the way of power, I do have the money that my late husband left me. If that money can go towards making life in just one small town better, I suppose I'll have to be satisfied with that."

Alex blinked, not sure if she even understood half of what the woman was going on about. But one thing was for sure: this wasn't a prank. This woman didn't seem capable of seeing a joke if it was right in front of her.

"How?" she asked.

"We'll go to the bank tomorrow, to see about the advance on the loan, if you can close down a little earlier," Astra said. "I've had some talks already, with Mr. J'onzz, and he seems most willing to see things through smoothly. It's such a relief to meet a banker who doesn't balk at doing business with a woman."

Alex cleared her throat, trying to make her voice a little hoarse than usual as she answered.

"I don't- I can't-"

Astra spoke right over her awkward attempts at expressing gratitude. "We'll have to do something about finding proper lodgings for you too. I understand you've found it financially expedient to sleep in your clinic quarters, until now, but I think you'd prefer something with a more personal touch."

"You can't just decide things like that for me," Alex protested.

That seemed to stop Astra in her tracks. An arrogant reply seemed to be on the tip of her tongue, and then she seemed to think twice about it.

"No," she said, eventually. "But, Kara did mention that you had an elderly mother who lived in the city. Wouldn't you like to have her come here and live with you, too?"

Alex sighed. She'd known that confiding in Kara might get her in trouble one day.

"Don't look so defeated," Astra said, and her voice was suddenly a lot more gentle, and a lot less businesslike. "You saved my niece from a broken heart. This is the least I can do for you, in return."

She was too close again, except Alex had nowhere further to retreat to, backed up against her desk as she was. Then, just as tenderly as she had spoken, Astra touched her cheek with one finger, exerting just enough pressure with it to tilt Alex's face up, so their gazes met again.

"Alright," Alex whispered. "I accept."

There was a curious tinge to Astra's gaze now, half-interested and half-confused, as she stared intensely at Alex.

"Word on the streets is you are a little strange, Master Danvers. But, I suppose it's no crime to be a little queer. "

Alex leaned back, trying not to catch another whiff of the woman's scent, which was somehow making her lightheaded despite not being very potent.

Then, Astra stepped back too, her glance turning towards the door of the clinic, to where a cart was waiting.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Master Danvers."

She left as quickly as she came, and standing in the empty clinic, Alex could finally breathe again. Her heart was galloping a mile a minute. Some part of her was trying to convince her that it must have just been some fever dream, conceived due to her overworking herself. The most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life had not just come in here and turned Alex's life upside down.

Except, she had. And Alex was already half-way in love when Astra clearly considered this as simply a business relationship, and there was no way any of this was going to end well.

\---


End file.
